


Eunwoo's Wikihow on How (Not) To Apologize

by straybulletproofstars



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Gen, Lots of Pettiness, Mild Language, TBC!Eunwoo, TBC!Eunwoo is Bad at Feelings, To Be Continued AU, Too Much Pride, reader is stubborn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 03:13:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15161276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straybulletproofstars/pseuds/straybulletproofstars
Summary: “Asking for a friend, if for example, you wanted to try and get someone to forgive you, how would you go about it?”“If this is who I think it's about, you could just apologize, you know.”“I did! It didn't work,” Eunwooo hastily corrects himself, “and it's not for me! It's for a friend.” Jinwoo can't help but snort.To Be Continued!AU about Eunwoo’s 5 attempts at getting you to forgive him and the one attempt that actually works. Eunwoo is bad at feelings and does stupid things based on every Astro members’ suggestion. You’re not impressed.





	Eunwoo's Wikihow on How (Not) To Apologize

**Author's Note:**

> You might wanna watch To Be Continued on Netflix before this otherwise it’ll seem OOC. TBC!Eunwoo is hard to write for and I did my best but sorry if he’s not 100% accurate. I promise he’s a little cold but full of good intentions. Also, the POV shifts around a bit. Hopefully, it’s bearable and not too confusing.

Eunwoo is a lot of things:

  1. Gorgeous (this a fact and not your opinion, or so you tell yourself)
  2. Intelligent (the cliche top of the class type with grades nicer than your reflection in the mirror)
  3. Talented (sings well, plays the piano, adept at dancing, the full package really)
  4. An asshole (with pride the size of Jupiter and a tendency to be colder than Hell itself)



He and Bin have had their differences in the past and you had spent enough time trying to reassure him of his insecurities that you knew of Eunwoo’s habit of lashing out when sensitive topics were brought up. It wasn’t as if you hadn’t been on the receiving of some of his more terse remarks, but you understood him to the point of shrugging them off and forgiving even his harshest statements.

You knew he never truly meant anything he said in a fit of anger and that almost every time he had snapped stemmed from his feelings of inferiority towards Sun Hyuk and his fear of failing or letting down the other members of the group. You told yourself over and over again that his reasons were enough to excuse his behavior, until the most recent incident.  
You should’ve known better than to pry too hard into Eunwoo’s issues, especially when he was so insistent on keeping them to himself, but you couldn’t help overstepping your boundaries in an innocent attempt to reassure him. He must’ve interpreted your words of comfort wrong or was too frustrated with himself to keep it in any longer because next thing you know, his dark eyes flash dangerously and his sub-zero tone cuts into you like barbed wire.

“What would you know? You’ll never understand how I feel. You have no dreams or passions of your own. You’re empty inside. There’s nothing you love enough to pour your heart and soul into. You sit around doing nothing but study and stick your nose in our business because you don’t have a life outside of supporting us and acting like a good student. The only reason you hang out with us is because you live vicariously through our success. Cheering us on makes you feel like you’re part of something when in fact, you have no purpose of your own and you lack any significant role outside your pathetic, mundane routine.”

You feel your throat constrict, vision blurring with hot, furious tears. Taking a deep, shaking breath to hold in the sob that threatens to leave your lips, you draw yourself up to your full height and meet his glacial gaze with your own. With the steeliest glare you can muster, you spit back a reply that tears the friendship between the both of you to shreds.

“You’re right. I’m just a plain, boring student with an ordinary, dull life. Listening to you guys sing, watching you perform, and seeing you achieve everything you all worked so hard for is the only interesting part of my existence and your music is one of the few things that I really love. Being your friend does make me feel like I have purpose. Maybe I spent so much time deluding myself into believing that by standing by your side and helping you guys as much as I could, my effort would amount to something. Maybe I’ve lost sight of reality and the truth of the matter is, everything I’ve done still doesn't count for anything…but I don’t regret a single moment except all the time I wasted trying to be there for you, when all you ever did was push me away and use me as a punching bag when I reached out to you. I’m done letting you treat me like shit. Goodbye, Eunwoo.”

Grabbing your bag roughly off the floor, you stalked out of the room and slammed the door shut in his shell-shocked face. Since that day, you hadn’t spoken a word to the pianist despite sharing a few classes and having mutual friends. You avoided him like the plague, looking through him when you crossed each other in the hallways and pretending he didn’t exist when one of the other boys would bring him up in conversation.

It was an awkward two weeks, as your friends walked on eggshells around you and gently nudged you to open up about what caused your falling out without setting you off or rubbing you the wrong way. After what seemed like forever, they stopped trying to pry the details out of you and opted to halve their time equally between spending breaks with you and Eunwoo now that you two refused to be caught in the same vicinity as the other person.

You appreciated their effort to make you feel included but you couldn’t help but feel guilty about the glaring divide your fight with Eunwoo had caused. You knew you weren’t to blame per se but you hated being partially responsible for the discord forming in the group, especially when Moonbin took your side upon finding out the details of the argument—making his friendship with Eunwoo slightly strained for a few days—and Jinwoo set out to convince the stubborn pianist to beg for forgiveness.

It was your unyielding pride and your ironclad belief that he didn’t deserve an apology from you that kept you from mending your friendship with him. No matter how awful you felt about dragging the others into your mess, you would not give into your conscience. Eunwoo would have to come to you, pleading on his knees, if things were going to go back to normal between the two of you. Nothing, not even an unlimited supply of french fries and a litter of dogs, would change your mind.

 __________

It takes Eunwoo six hours, three piano pieces, and an eight minute lecture from both MJ and Jinjin for him to calm down and realize he’s screwed up.

What he had said in his fit of anger had been a low blow and it definitely wasn't his proudest moment but the words had come tumbling out before he could stop them and when he had come to his senses, the damage had already been done.

It irked him a little, how quick everyone was to take your side. Sure, he should've reigned in his temper and avoided lashing out in the first place but if you hadn't been so persistent, he might not have snapped to begin with. You were always too invested in your friends' personal lives and while your intentions were good, Eunwoo needed you to respect his privacy at the time.

Explaining that to the other members, however, was proving to be difficult. Moonbin has jumped to your defense at once when Eunwoo had let slip the details of your argument.

“This isn't the first time you said something harsh due to your insecurities! When are you going to learn to open up instead of constantly bottling up your feelings? I know you're trying to deal with things on your own but by letting them stew, your behavior affects us all!”

He threw back the same message Eunwoo told him countless times before and it stung, clawing at his already wounded pride. Perhaps Bin was right, but Eunwoo hated to admit it himself.

“You can't just ignore each other forever. You're both our friends and it's hard seeing you two act like this. Is your ego more important than your friendship?” MJ’s tone was as stern as it was gentle, placing a firm hand on the younger boy's shoulder and fixing him with an unwavering stare. Eunwoo shrugged it off as delicately as he could and moved to stand up.

“I wasn't the one who walked out on them. They said it themselves. They're done with me. I didn't make that decision, they did.”

The weeks went by without any change to the situation. You continued to act as if nothing happened, spending lunch with your cousin Jinjin and chatting during class with Sanha but staying as far away from the meeting room as possible when the boys went to practice after school. 

Eunwoo felt progressively worse for the drawn-out silence between the both of you. The longer he spent replaying the conversation in his mind, the more he felt like the one in the wrong and finally, his conscience outweighs his pride and he approaches you in the hallway at the end of the week.

You’re chatting with one of your female friends, giggling over something she showed you on her phone. You’re too preoccupied with the conversation to pay attention to your surroundings and it isn’t until she leaves, waving goodbye as you go separate ways, that you realize you’re heading straight for Eunwoo’s direction.

You attempt to sidestep him but he snatches your wrist and tugs you back. You try to wrench yourself away but he might as well be a boa constrictor with a grip that tight and you eventually succumb to your fate, stopping in your tracks and facing him with an unimpressed stare.

“Look, I’m sorry about what I said back there. You just had to pry and you know how much I struggle with talking about sensitive topics—” Eunwoo sounds frustrated as he drags a hand through his hair out of agitation. He doesn’t make it past the second sentence when you raise an eyebrow.   
“Oh, so it’s my fault, is it? You know what, you never change. You can take your feeble apologies and shove it up your ass. Even now, you’re still shifting the blame,” You snap as you finally break free of his hold, turning on your heel and storming out of the large double doors leading to the school gates with your head held high. Just before you’re out of hearing range, you pick up the sound of Eunwoo’s exasperated sigh.

Unbeknownst to you, the pianist heads straight to the practice room where he finds Jinjin casually lounging on the couch with his feet propped on top of the coffee table, a male fashion magazine in his right hand. Rocky is seated in the black leather office chair, peering at something on the computer screen with intense concentration written across his features. 

“Asking for a friend, if for example, you wanted to try and get someone to forgive you, how would you go about it?” The words come rushing out of the black-haired musician’s mouth and he feels his cheeks heating up, betraying his embarrassment. 

“If this is who I think it's about, you could just _apologize,_ you know.” The oldest member of the group doesn’t look up from the tabloid and relaxes further into the sofa as if to mock him.

“I did! It didn't work,” Eunwooo hastily corrects himself, “and it's not for me! It's for a friend.” 

Jinwoo can't help but snort, “Okay, well tell your friend that maybe he should try apologizing again but _sincerely_ this time, and if that doesn't work he might want to get down on his knees and beg for forgiveness. That's a last resort for when he's really desperate, though. He might not want to dirty his uniform.” 

From the back of the room, Rocky fights the grin that threatens to appear on his lips. “It seems like you’re going to need all the help you can get if you somehow messed up saying three words. Sit down and spill.”  


By the time that Eunwoo finishes explaining the previous events, the other three members arrive, dropping their stuff in a nearby corner and taking up the rest of the vacant spots on the couches. Whipping out a piece of paper as if to take notes, Jinjin begins the discussion.

“So, now that we’re all here, it’s time to commence plan: Help Eunwoo Beg for Forgiveness. We’re going to all write down suggestions and hopefully, by the end of next week, one of them will work and everything can finally get back to normal.” 

Huddling together, the boys stack their hands on top of one another and raise them in unison, letting out a loud cheer. Eunwoo can’t help but internally pray that the first attempt proves to be successful because he doubts that his sanity will last the long enough to go through with every plan his friends can come up with.

__________

1\. Leave Them Flowers

When you walk into your first class on Monday morning, there’s a bouquet of fresh petunias on your desk. Their sweet, floral aroma wafts through the classroom and you don’t have to read the three word note tucked into the pastel wrapping paper to guess where the ivory and indigo blossoms came from. 

You can’t believe how petty Eunwoo is, spending money on flowers just to insult you further. You adored petunias and they reminded you of the garden your grandmother tended to back home, painting the flower beds in bright, beautiful shades of magenta and plum. So, you knew better than anyone the meaning behind the delicate petals.

You didn’t expect Eunwoo to do such extensive research but it was clear that, by giving these to you after your argument, he intended to make his anger and resentment towards you very clear. 

Clenching your fist around the tragically gorgeous arrangement, you snatch it roughly off your desk and send the dark-haired composer the nastiest scowl you can muster as you dump them into the trash. You can feel the curious stares of your classmates boring into your back but with the thunder roaring in your ears and the fire surging through your veins, you can’t find it in you to care even the least bit about making a scene.

Eunwoo drops his gaze down to his phone as he furiously types out a text to Moonbin, schooling his expression into a cool, netural facade when he hits send. _’You told me petunias were her favorite.’_

The reply is instantaneous, _‘They are, unless she somehow changed her mind between now and last month.’_

Wracking his brain for an explanation to the fierce glower you had shot at him as you tossed his gift in the garbage bin, he turns to the ever reliable Google Search bar for assistance. Upon reading a few articles on floriography, Eunwoo lets out a weary sigh, rubbing circles into his forehead when he feels a headache coming on. Why did he think it was a good idea to trust Bin’s advice again?

__________ 

2\. Bake something to give as a peace offering

Rocky, officially dubbed Chef Minhyuk in the kitchen, was a big believer in the saying, ‘the quickest way to a person’s heart is through their stomach’. He also knew for a fact that you couldn’t resist a warm batch of cookies. He had experienced enough of your ‘coincidental’ visits to know that you stole a few of his freshly baked treats every chance you got. 

So, after spending an afternoon teaching Eunwoo—who was unsurprisingly quite quick to learn the ropes—they whipped up some peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies to give to you the following day. 

“You can’t screw this up, too. They came out perfect and taste amazing. We know they love these and there are no secret meanings or vague symbolism behind cookies. Just hand it to them, say sorry, try not to be rude this time, and it’ll go just fine.” 

Minhyuk was nothing if not reliable and Eunwoo swore he had this in the bag. So, when he spots you at lunchtime sitting across from Sanha—who has his entire mouth stuffed with meat so that his cheeks resembled steamed buns—he’s feeling confident as he strides over.

Your back is facing the approaching pianist and you’re so caught up in retelling the story of a movie you watched the night before that you don't hear Eunwoo’s footsteps until he’s right behind you, casting a shadow over you and the rice meal you were currently eating. You glance up at him, lips twisting into a frown.

“What do you want this time? Are you here to insult me with flowers again or have you decided to resort to homicide instead? Let me guess, those are poisoned.” You gesture at the neatly packaged pouch full of cookies. The sight of which was mouth-watering but you considered the possibility of it being laced with laxatives and you’d rather not risk it.

“I didn’t mean to—you know, never mind,” Eunwoo holds out the small bag towards you and tries to look at least a semblance of apologetic, “It’s a peace offering. I don’t know anything about flowers but I can at least bake a decent batch of cookies.” 

You take the plastic package from him and untie the ribbon, plucking a cookie from inside and raising it to your mouth. It’s only a centimeter from your lips when you suddenly freeze as you remember something. Eyeing Eunwoo suspiciously, you raise your eyebrows.

“These don’t happen to have nuts in them, do they?” Your tone is wary and the black-haired boy standing in front of you drops his head into his hands.

“Please don’t tell me you’re allergic to peanut butter.” He mumbles almost inaudibly and you drop the cookie back into the bag with a grimace.

“I’ve mentioned it before. Nice to know you pay attention to me when I’m talking.” Your tone is laced with sarcasm and Sanha’s gaze flits between the both of you, half-concerned but also half-amused, not quite sure if he should pity his older classmate or laugh at his awful luck.

“But Rocky didn’t say anything—” Eunwoo defends himself but immediately backtracks when he realizes his error.

“I never told Rocky. I did, however, tell _you,_ but more importantly, did you ask him for help making these?” Your eyes narrow and the pianist holds up his hands in surrender.

“I made them myself! He did help a _little_ but it was mostly me, I swear!” Eunwoo’s voice is desperate and the expression on your face is dubious and mildly crestfallen.

Sighing quietly to yourself, you try not to let your disappointment show when you reply, “I’m sure it was. Look, I can’t eat these so you can have it back. Thanks, though, I guess. I have to get to class.” 

Turning to Sanha, who pretends to be occupied with playing with the corner of his napkin to avoid getting caught eavesdropping, you roll your eyes and mutter, “You coming?” 

He looks up at you, wide-eyed and resembling a deer in the headlights, before nodding and quickly standing from the table. “Um, yeah, sure!” He sends a sympathetic glance at Eunwoo that isn’t quite sincere as he hurries to follow your retreating figure out of the cafeteria.

The pianist slumps into the empty seat and takes out a cookie for himself, biting into the soft center. He finishes the entire bag himself and tries not to let another failed plan get to him. 

He figures, even if you couldn’t have it, it meant more for him. After all, they _were_ really good and as Eunwoo hurries off to class, he makes a mental note to get Rocky’s recipe and bake himself another batch some time. Maybe the sweets would help improve his slowly worsening mood. 

__________ 

3\. Put a stuffed toy in their locker

“You know what your problem is?” Jinjin brings up as he leans back into the swiveling office chair in their practice room, arms casually tucked behind his head.

“He doesn’t know anything about Y/N even if they’ve been friends since they started high school?” Sanha pipes up unhelpfully from his spot on the couch. Eunwoo represses the urge to muss his hair in retaliation. 

“Yeah, how did you miss the fact that they were allergic to nuts?” MJ’s laugh fills the room and Eunwoo groans as the other members start poking fun at him.

“Don’t remind me. It slipped my mind, okay? It’s not like I ignore them. I just…forgot.” His tone is so unconvincing that both Rocky and Moonbin shoot doubtful looks his way. 

_“Other than that,”_ Jinjin steers the topic back in the right direction, “You can come off a little…insincere, Eunwoo. First, you get them flowers and you don’t know which ones they like so you ask Moonbin. Then, you forget their allergy to nuts and you let it slip that you asked Rocky for help, which makes your peace offering seem impersonal and a little thoughtless. Maybe, you should come up with something that proves your attentiveness.”

“You know what everyone likes?” Sanha pipes up excitedly and Eunwoo raises an eyebrow questioningly, “Stuffed toys! They're cute, soft, and romantic! You could get them one of their favorite animals to show you actually know that about them.”

“What if they throw it out again?” Rocky counters, looking up from the notebook he’s flipping through to join the conversation, “They might not accept it since Eunwoo’s screwed up twice now.”

“It’s simple,” Sanha rolls his eyes, “We’ll just put it in their locker so they have no choice but to take it and once they see it, it’ll be too adorable to resist so they won’t toss it in the garbage. They’re not that heartless.” 

“You want me to break into their locker and shove a gigantic penguin plush in it?” Eunwoo stares incredulously at the youngest member of their group.

“I know their locker combination!” 

“That's not the _point!”_

MJ and Jinwoo exchange uneasy glances but Moonbin and Rocky don’t seem very fazed by the idea. Moonbin deadpans, “I mean, it’s probably not that big of a deal, right? If all goes well, they’ll forget about that minor detail. It’s not like you’re stealing their stuff. You’re just leaving them a present.”

Eunwoo splutters for a second, trying to come up with a better alternative but after being met with Sanha’s puppy dog eyes and silence from the rest of the group, he relents uneasily. “Well, it can’t be worse than last time so I guess it’s worth a try.” 

 

It’s been nearly three weeks since your argument with Eunwoo and you’ve mostly simmered down. Sure, the flowers had sparked renewed anger into you and the cookies were tactless at best but you’re not in the mood to hold grudges and you try to push the issue out of your mind, not quite forgiving him but at least dropping the plans for his murder. You still expected a proper apology if anything were to change, but you weren’t actively avoiding him as much as before and you considered that a step in the right direction.

You come to school in a particularly good mood that day. The weather is clear and a slight breeze keeps the beating sun’s heat at bay. Your breakfast had been particularly tasty and you even walked to school with two of your close friends from the same neighborhood, who filled the early morning silence with aimless chatter. It just felt like one of those rare perfect days, until you opened your locker.

Sanha’s locker is beside yours and he gets there in time to peer over your shoulder as you tug open the door to reveal the enormous stuffed penguin—pastel blue and dressed in a tuxedo—sitting on top of your books. You barely get a good look at it before you slam the locker shut, praying that it was just your eyes playing tricks on you. You count to ten in your head and open it again, only to let out a loud sigh of irritation. Of course, it was still there.

“What's wrong? It’s so cute!” Sanha snatches the plush and holds it up to you, waving one of its tiny flippers endearingly. Staring into its shiny eyes, you hate to admit it yourself but it was sort of adorable. _However_ , you weren't about to let Eunwoo get away with his mistake so easily.

“It is, so you can have it.” You push the penguin into the brunet’s chest and the glowing smile on Sanha’s face fades in an instant, replaced by a childlike pout that tugs at your conscience slightly. Taking a deep breath and mustering all the willpower you have left in you, you square your shoulders and cross your arms over your chest. “Tell Eunwoo that he’s going to have to do better than that to earn my forgiveness. What does he think I am? A doormat?”

“But—” Sanha tries to protest, already attempting to press the penguin into your unmoving arms. You cut him off swiftly with a piercing glare that makes him take a step back. Calming yourself down, you arrange your features into a saccharine smile.

“Sanha,” Your tone is dulcet as you practically sing his name, “You might also want to tell him that if he— _or anyone else_ —breaks into my locker, I’m reporting them. You’ll do that for me, right?” 

Under your sickly sweet gaze, he can only nod nervously and by the time you finish arranging your books into your bag, heading to your first class, Sanha’s long gone. You tuck a lock of hair behind your ear and sigh to yourself for the second time. 

It was a shame, really. The penguin _had_ been really cute after all, and you couldn’t help your traitorous heart from warming at the thought of Eunwoo remembering that they were your favorite animal. Maybe he really did care a little about you than you initially thought he did…but that didn’t magically fix everything even if you wished it did. 

__________

4 & 5\. Buy them food instead and write them a note

After the threat and the sting of rejection from having the penguin plush returned to him, Eunwoo’s not sure how much more of his friends’ advice he can take but Jinjin and MJ clap him on the back as soon as he starts to seem broody. Taking a seat on either side of him, they give him empathic smiles.

“Sanha told us what happened this morning and MJ and I came up with the perfect plan,” Jinjin’s confident expression and MJ’s encouraging grin eases the dark-haired pianist’s mind a little and he raises his head to give them his full attention.

“So, the baking failed but you can’t go wrong with _buying_ them food,” Myungjun explains optimistically. 

Eunwoo’s not convinced but Jinwoo’s quick to tack on, “And since what they’re looking for is a proper apology, but you somehow mess that up every time you open your mouth—no offense Eunwoo but I’ve never seen someone so bad at saying sorry—you should just stick to writing a letter. We’ll help you edit it before you give it to them, so there’s no way you can screw up this time.” 

When the two are finished explaining, Eunwoo—for the first time since he’s received advice from his friends—feels like nothing could possibly go wrong no matter how bad his luck was. “All right, this sounds like the best bet so far. Thank you for…all this.” 

His sentence drifts off awkwardly but Jinwoo slings an arm around his shoulder and MJ beams, “Relax, it’s Eunwoo-proof. Everything will work out perfectly.”

He keeps their comforting words in mind the following afternoon, when he approaches you at the school gates just as you’re about to head home. There’s a box of donuts under one of his arms, decorated with a tidy bow. You can almost imagine the number of times Eunwoo had tied the ribbon around the box, starting over and over again until it was perfect.

His eyes are pleading when he holds out it to you and you begrudgingly take it, unable to refuse after how guilty you already felt about turning down the penguin plush yesterday. You fix him with a terse frown when you see the envelope carefully tucked under the bow, aggravation welling up inside you and spilling over. 

“Are you really trying to bribe me with flowers and food? I don't want a bouquet or a box of donuts, Eunwoo. I want you to look me in the eye and apologize, and _actually mean it_ but apparently, that's too hard for you so you avoid it and write me a letter instead! When will you ever change?”

You’re expecting him to spew more excuses or to return your hostility but to your surprise, all the fight in Eunwoo seems to drain from his body as he lets out a weary exhale. He stares at you, anguish clear in his brown eyes when you toss the letter on the ground. You feel your resolve start to crumble when he speaks.

“I know I said some really horrible things back then and you don’t have to believe me when I try to win your forgiveness with all the presents. I get it, you want to hear me say I’m sorry, not spend money on you until you cave. I’ll do better, I promise. I’ve been an idiot these past few weeks…but I’m going to make it up to you. I understand if you don’t want to read the letter, that’s fine. Just, at least don’t let the food go to waste on my account.” 

You clench your fist, forcing your expression to remain neutral when you nod once. “Yeah, I’ll—I’ll eat them. Thank you, I guess.” 

He attempts to smile back but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes as he turns around, waving once before turning the corner and disappearing from view. When you’re sure he’s out of sight, you snatch the envelope off the ground and dust it off. Taking a seat on the nearest bench, you take a bite of a donut and tear the letter open.

_‘Y.N,_

_I’ll try to keep this short before I mess anything else up. I’m hopeless at apologizing and I asked everyone for advice on how to go about fixing things between us. As you know, every plan failed and I think I’ve somehow managed to make the situation worse but I can only hope that you see how much I care about you and how desperately I tried to get you to forgive me, even if none of the attempts so far have panned out. I’ve always had you to make up for how bad I am with emotions but I can’t turn to you now, when it matters the most. Please let me be selfish one more time when I ask you to read between the lines like you usually do and hear the sincerity I’m unable to convey properly. I really am sorry. I don't deserve your kindness but I hope you’ll give me another chance to be worthy of your friendship.’_

Your hands tremble as you fold the paper and place it in your bag. Curling up on the bench, you tuck your knees close to your chest and bury your face in your arms. A shaky breath leaves your lips as you struggle to pull yourself together.

The past few weeks had been rough on you. You had been friends with Eunwoo since the beginning of high school when he tutored you in science and you two began meeting in the music room so he could practice piano and you could listen to his pieces while sketching. You stood by and supported him and the rest of your friends as they pursued their dream of debuting as an idol group. You made promotional posters when they had small performances around campus and cheered for them despite all the bumps in the road and all the obstacles they faced. 

Somewhere along the way, your admiration for Eunwoo had grown into something more…something stronger and while you were content to sit on the sidelines as his best friend, you couldn’t help but wish that regardless of his somewhat closed off and cold demeanor, he cared about you and saw you the same way you did. He wasn’t perfect—and neither were you—but there were so many fond memories, so many good times, that you let every single disagreement go and continued to harbor feelings for him, patiently waiting for him to reciprocate. 

Not speaking to each other for so long had left you heartbroken and as hard as you tried to bury your loneliness and replace it with bitter fury, you knew that deep down, you couldn’t stand to lose him and you longed to believe his promises. He had made mistakes recently but you could see that, while some plans were misguided and clumsy, behind them all were good intentions. 

Standing up, you take a final bite of your donut and decide at that moment that tomorrow, you’d talk things out with Eunwoo and settle the issue once and for all. Maybe you didn’t quite get the face to face apology you wanted but you were willing to compromise if it meant that you could have your best friend back.

__________ 

+1 (Eunwoo’s Plan)

The large poster stuck to your locker was the first thing to greet you the next day. It’s simple and written in familiar penmanship, _‘I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone after this but please give me one last chance. Meet me in the music room after class. I’m going to make things right.’_

You tear the note off your door and shove it hastily in your backpack before anyone else can see it. You’re not sure what to expect and your nerves leave you fidgety and distracted the entire day until the last bell rings. You pace up and down the hallway outside the music room five minutes after dismissal, steeling yourself for the encounter. Finally, you gather the courage to push open the door and you’re not sure whether or not to laugh or stare bewilderedly at the sight in front of you. 

Eunwoo is sitting at the piano, wearing a clearly DIY-ed shirt which reads ‘I’m sorry’ in bold letters that MJ must’ve helped him make. The stuffed penguin you gave back occupies the space beside him and he looks up at you with an anxious smile, gesturing you to move closer.

When you stand beside him, he begins to play, fingers gliding across the keys effortlessly. The notes that fill the air sound so familiar and it takes you a few seconds to realize it’s the same one from the first time you two had come to the music room together, you with your graphite pencils and him with a stack of sheet music. You feel your eyes tearing up as you place a hand on his shoulder and he gazes back at you warmly. 

You barely register the end of the piece until he swivels around and suddenly kneels down in front of you, taking both of your hands in his. “Jinjin joked about getting down on my knees and begging for forgiveness but if that’s what it takes then consider this my plea. I should never have lashed out at you. You were just trying to help, like you always are, and I took my insecurity and my frustration with myself out on you. That was selfish and unfair of me and I’m ashamed of how I acted. You’ve been nothing but an angel and I took you for granted. I don’t expect you to forgive me after how harsh I was but I want you to know that I didn’t mean a single word and I swear that I will never make the same mistake again. I should never have hurt you and I’m so sorry that I did. Please—”

Blushing furiously and insistently tugging him off the floor, you demand, “Eunwoo, I’m not going to forgive you until you stand up! Seriously, this is too much! I just—you didn’t have to—oh for god’s sake, just stop being so embarrassing! I was going to find you earlier today to tell you I read the letter and I forgive you but you just had to—how could I possibly stay mad after all of this?”

Eunwoo chuckles as he rises from his position on the ground and his grin is so infectious that you feel the corners of your lips tilting up in return. He meets your eyes and says, “This might be too soon but I wanted to tell you that I love—”

“You're right, it is too soon.” You quickly interrupt and a flash of pain crosses Eunwoo’s delicate feature. Immediately trying to remedy the situation, you stand on your tiptoes and press a reassuring kiss on his cheek. “I didn't say I didn't feel the same way but—” 

“Don't worry, I'll wait as long as it takes for you to decide that you're ready.” He says as he laces your fingers with his and brushes his lips against your forehead, feather light but no less sweet.

“I hope you'll settle for my house and cookies. This time, I can help you and we'll make a batch _without_ nuts,” You suggest as he hands you the stuffed penguin, which you finally take from him. You hide your growing smile as you bury your nose into its faux fur.

“For you, my darling, anything. I'm just glad we're okay again.” 

“So am I.” 

**Author's Note:**

> TBC!Eunwoo is probably the only Eunwoo I can write for, so if I did bad here, normal sweet Eunwoo fics will be worse, oops. If you’re wondering, petunias (when given to someone you’ve had a recent argument with) mean resentment. Also, this fic was supposed to be shorter than Sanha’s but I lost control of the word count and now it’s 6k+?? Oh well.


End file.
